The first place Yankees (20-11) kick off a 7 game homestand tonight versus the Orioles. The starting pitching has been great so far and has carried the team, but guys like Grisham, Chisholm jr. and Wells need to start hitting.
How is your team doing?
O’s. Sitting about .500. Pete Alonso having a slow start, but no one thinks he’s forgotten how to hit. Adley Rutschman seems to have figured out whatever was bothering him the last couple of seasons, so far, currently slashing .356/.406/.661. Taylor Ward has been a solid pickup, hitting .304/.438/.443. Ryan Helsey has been converting every save opportunity that’s come his way, but they’re just not getting him into games.
So it’s May. Do the Mets still suck?
I think they’re currently the worst for the most money. So impossible to beat for suck. Back to being the NY Mess.
Here’s a tiny baseball question that doesn’t deserve its own thread: which current MLB stars would you describe as ‘five tool players?’
Does Mike Trout still count?
I think Fernando Tatis Jr. qualifies.
Bobby Witt Jr. is no doubt I think.
Mookie Betts was one as recently as 2 years ago, so might bonce back. He is only 33.
Hopefully qualifies soon: “The Martian”, Jasson Domínguez of the Yanks.
Five Tools:
Bobby Witt Jr.
Jose Ramirez
Kyle Tucker
Mookie Betts (when healthy)
Fernando Tatis Jr.
Aaron Judge
Shohei Ohtani (swapping out “fielding” for “pitching”)
Ronald Acuna Jr.
Elly de la Cruz
Cal Raleigh (maybe the first catcher I’d ever describe that way)
Julio Rodriguez
Francisco Lindor
Pete Crow Armstrong
Byron Buxton
Cody Bellinger (when healthy)
Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Jackson Chourio
Jose Altuve
Mike Trout
Wyatt Langford
I think Pete Crow-Armstrong is likely to develop into a 5-tool player, but he’s not quite there yet. He swings at too many pitches out of the zone for me to say he’s there already.
The generic definition of ‘five tools’ I see Googling are hitting, power hitting, speed, fielding and throwing. Hitting should really be OBP. Take Trout, for instance. His average isn’t pretty, but he’s slashing .248/.431/.569.
Since speed is one of the tools, you’d have to take Judge, Tucker, and Raleigh off the list, and probably a few others.
Raw speed, maybe. But they’re efficient and successful basestealers.
Tucker stole 25 bases last year, and only got caught 3 times. That’s excellent. He’s also a plus baserunner according to Statcast.
Aaron Judge isn’t winning any base running awards. I’ll take him off. Likewise for Raleigh, but I’m grading him on his curves the curve.
And the Mets bigwigs say there are no plans to fire Carlos Mendoza.
You can take that as them standing by their manager, or as the dreaded “vote of confidence.”
Cal has come back to earth this season. Currently hitting .192 with only a .667 OPS. Oh yeah he’s slow too as was mentioned.
I’m hoping his fielding gets to at least the “not embarrassing” category.
So far no word on his elbow that was hit by a pitch.
Royals swept the Angels earlier in the week and then won the opener against the A’s, giving all of us KC fans small glimmers of hope.
Alas, they lost the next two in Sacramento, and are once again below .400. But only 3 1/2 games out in the pathetic AL Central. Detroit and Cleveland are tied for first, both playing .500 ball.
Yankees starting pitching still dominating. Tonight it was Will Warren. With Cole and Rodon on rehab assignments that’s one aspect they haven’t had to worry about so far.
Good news for Jasson Dominguez. His elbow went numb after being hit by a pitch. All tests have been negative so it looks like it’s just a bruise. Hopefully he’ll be back in a game soon.
Japanese import rookie Munetaka Murakami has 13 extra base hits so far this season. They are all HRs.
Ildemaro Vargas of the DBacks went 0 for 4 today in a loss to the Cubs, which ended his 24-game hitting streak. He had hit safely in every game in which he played thus far this season.
Meanwhile, the Cubs won their 4th straight overall and 10th in a row at Wrigley. They lead the NL Central, a division where all five teams are over .500.
Also, in a game this afternoon, the Reds tied a MLB record by walking 7 consecutive Pirates batters. That happened in the 2nd inning. After a leadoff strikeout, the next seven batters walked. Pittsburgh scored 5 runs in the inning, one of 3 5-run innings they had today in a 17-7 win.
In addition to his first 24 games this season, Vargas also hit safely in the last three games he played last season, so hit total hit streak was 27 games.
In other news, the Padres have reached a deal to sell the team to a group led by Kwanza Jones and Jose E Feliciano.
The Dodgers dropped 4 in a row and are now basically tied with the Padres.
Yankees ass whipping on the Orioles 11-3. Started off tight but they pulled away late in the game. All of that might be totally unimportant because Ben Rice was taken out with a possible hand injury. He’s currently leading baseball in OBP, SLG, OPS and OPS+.
Early reports are that Rice is OK.